Kid-terview (or “How to Read Minds!”) with Magician Randy Masters

I had a great magician for my birthday party! I thought I’d ask him a few questions for Kids’ News NYC. I’m glad I did…I learned a lot, read it for yourself and then go trick your friends!

Were you interested in magic as a child?

When I was about 8 years old, my mother bought me a magic trick set, it had the vanishing handkerchief trick and the ball and the base trick, and that kind of started my interest. Plus I was reading books about Harry Houdini, who was a really famous escape artist. He was my idol. So between getting this magic kit and reading about this famous magician, I became very interested in magic.

What made you become a magician?

I started to do tricks for my family and did a show for my whole school by the time I was in 8th grade. That’s how it all started.

Did your parents want you to be a magician?

They never wanted me to be a doctor or lawyer or something like that, they liked magic and were very supportive of me being a magician.

When you were little did you go to a magic show?

Yes I remember there was a very famous magician named Doug Henning, he was the hip magician of that time. My father took me to see him and I sat up front and he actually brought me up on stage. That was an incredible experience because he was very famous.

Did you ever have another job before this?

That was the first time I started making money because I started when I was in 8th grade, doing shows for Boy Scouts, birthday parties, etc.

Do you like the job?

Oh, yes, even if I didn’t make money from the job, I’d still do it, I love it so much!

Is it fun to be a magician?

It’s a great amount of fun, especially doing the comedy magic shows, making people laugh…even when I’m not doing magic it’s fun to watch the shows.

What is your favorite magic trick?

That’s a good question…I probably have more than one favorite, like one of the favorites would be the ball in the cup routine, it disappears and then reappears in the cup. Also there’s a card trick where the card keeps reappearing in my pocket, that’s one of my favorites also.

Do you practice your magic tricks before a magic show?

Yes, I try to always do a run-through of the order. There are some tricks I’ve done hundreds of times that I don’t have to practice anymore, it’s more of the new tricks I’m adding that I will practice.

Who is your favorite magician?

There’s an act called “Penn and Teller” and they’re actually two magicians. Teller doesn’t speak at all in the show, and Penn is always talking and they have a show in Las Vegas and it’s spectacular.

Is there one trick you can tell our readers how to do?

Here’s one that is easy to do and you can trick people…it’s a mind reading trick you do with crayons. You ask someone to come up and pick up the box of crayons and while your back is turned, they pick any crayon and hand it to you behind your back. Let’s say they hand you a green crayon. You turn around and face them and pretend to be thinking and reading their mind and then you say, “You’re thinking of the color green.” What you do is when they hand you the crayon, you make a little nick with your thumb and then when you raise your hand to put it in front of their face to “read their mind,” you see the color of the crayon under your thumb!

Do your friends make you do magic tricks all the time?

Not all the time because they have seen a lot of them already, but if I have a new trick they will want to see it.

Good one! What advice would you give kids who want to be a magician?

I would tell them to do what I did which was to read a lot of books. Nowadays, people are looking at a lot of DVDs to learn, and I also learn from them, but there are some really good books, like a book called, “Magic for Little Hands,” that’s a great way to learn. Learn from books first before DVDs and always practice a lot before a show. If you don’t take the time to really learn the trick before the show, instead of really amazing people, you can really mess up.

OK, kids, there you have it, tips and tricks from a real live magician. If you want him for your party, have your parents look him up on Gigmasters, Thumbtack or just google Magician Randy Masters. Now go get those crayons and read your mom’s mind!